Posted August 24, 2010

One question has been raised in the debate over same-sex marriage: are attitudes affected by the rhetoric used in the debate? A study suggests that they aren't.

Politicians and activists use different frames to advance their respective agendas.

The issue of same-sex marriage continues to demand media attention in the United States, as its legal status is questioned by politicians, lawyers, and judges and Americans’ attitudes regarding the issue continue to inch toward approval. While researchers have noted significant changes in Americans’ attitudes regarding same-sex marriage, now with a slim majority in favor of it, one question has been raised but until now left unanswered: are Americans’ attitudes affected by the rhetoric used in the debate over same-sex marriage? One study’s results suggest that they aren’t.

The Study

Indiana University sociologistsAaron J. Ponce, Oren Pizmony-Levy, Hubert Izienicki, and I, investigated the effect of different frames on a nationally-representative sample’s support for marriage between two people of the same sex. Specifically, we compared the effects of what we called supporter frames – those who advocate for same-sex marriage – “gay activists,” “civil rights activists,” and a neutral category of “some people,” and of subject frames – those receiving the right to marry – “homosexual couples” and “same-sex couples.” Each respondent was randomly assigned to receive one supporter frame (gay activists versus civil rights activists versus some people) and one subject frame (same-sex couples versus homosexual couples).

Dr. Eric Anthony Grollman received his PhD in sociology at Indiana University. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Richmond. Dr. Grollman's research interests lie in medical sociology, social psychology, sexualities, and race/gender/class. You can see his personal blog at http://egrollman.com.More posts by this author »